Brand YOU–How to Sell Yourself and Your Goals
Are you a brand worth buying in life? What image are you giving other people? Perhaps it’s time you considered that question quite seriously. How you dress, act, speak…it’s all part of the overall package that is you.
Whether it’s fair or not, people do tend to treat a book by its cover.
So you should treat yourself like a product…and that means you should brand yourself. What kind of a brand are you now? What kind of a brand do you want to become?
What sort of public relations stunts do you have to do to convince others of the value of the brand that is you?
While it’s true that you never have a second chance to make a first impression, you can always spin things in such a way that you’re your own turnaround expert. Google “New Coke” and you’ll see the hoops Coca-Cola had to jump through to deal with a product/brand/marketing faux pas of seemingly intergalactic proportions.
Similarly, if a total reboot of your life is in order, reformulating the brand that is you into a success-laden icon is called for. No matter how bad your life currently is, you can reframe the way you look at things and find a new way to achieve your believable goals—even if you feel you’re too low for zero, there are so many “zero to hero” stories out there nowadays.
Why can’t that be you, too?
People reinvent themselves all the time, so you’re hardly in the minority. Examine everything that’s in your possession and/or on your body and ask yourself whether it’s a direct reflection of how you’re trying to sell yourself to the universe.
Yes? Great.
No? Time to tweak, edit, polish and ditch/donate whatever doesn’t work for you anymore.
The brand that is YOU should have a message, motto or creed. No worries. Your WHY should serve as exactly that.
A successful brand also has a unique selling proposition. What makes you different in an ocean of other people who may have similar WHYs or S.M.A.A.R.T. goals? Once you know what makes you different, use your Power Hour and your goal-setting ritual to define that difference and determine what points you need to make about yourself, your brand, to everyone else you encounter in your life. What is it about what makes you YOU that also makes you awesome? Successful? The obvious choice for X? When you focus your efforts, you’ll get great results. Fail to plan, plan to fail.
Granted, your brand re-launch may not come easy and may require many revisions before it’s a commercial success in the marketplace of life. But do the work required and then reintroduce yourself to society looking, sounding and behaving in a way that’s congruent with your WHY, the motto that’s related to the brand that is YOU. Don’t stress your reintroduction into society, by the way; you may be surprised to see how few people notice or even comment on it, because they’re busy with their own stuff. They won’t have time to obsess about the new and improved Brand You.
You, in the meantime, will keep moving forward until you’re the bestseller you deserve to be!
Want more help in your personal rebranding efforts? Try the book, The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself and Transform Your Career, by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, available on Amazon.
